Founding Documents

A cooperative effort, this website is an online repository of 100 milestone primary documents in American history. The first document is the Richard Henry Lee Resolution of June 7, 1776, proposing independence for the American colonies. The last is the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In between, visitors will find Eli Whitney’s 1794 cotton gin patent, the 1862 Pacific Railway Act, and the 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson ruling. There is a full-page scan and transcription of each document. In addition to the chronological list of 100 documents, the site includes a “People’s Vote” top-ten list. Of the 100 documents, Americans voted the Declaration of Independence number one, while the 1935 Social Security Act came in last. The site offers resource tools for educators and librarians on how to integrate the milestone documents into the classroom.

This site features three documents central to early U.S. history: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights. Transcriptions of all three documents are accompanied by high-resolution images of the originals. The site also includes supporting materials, such as the 1823 William J. Stone engraving. Several scholarly articles (approximately 8,000 words each) provide further context. There is also extensive information on the creation of the documents, and the impact they have had on American society.

This site provides more than 3,000 documents pertaining to United States history, primarily from the colonial period to the end of the 19th century. Though this site provides no contextualization, it is useful for locating commonly used documents.

Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774–1873, American Memory, Library of Congress

This site offers records and acts of Congress from the Journals of the Continental Congress through The Congressional Globe, which ceased publication with the 42nd Congress in 1873. An excellent resource for Antebellum and Reconstruction politics, the site also includes valuable information about early America through a collection of debates about adopting the Federal Constitution, and a collection entitled The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787.

Eight documents and prints relating to the Declaration of Independence are presented on this site, including a fragment of the earliest known version and Thomas Jefferson’s “original Rough draught” with changes by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and others. This site is well organized and successfully tracks the Declaration’s development and effect.